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Gender

Mounting evidence shows that advancements in gender equality could have a profoundly positive impact on environmental well-being.In celebration of International Women's Day on March 8, Natalie Elwell and Yasmine Williams explore the connection.

Gender equality is not only a human right; it’s imperative for achieving sustainable development.

Growing evidence shows the link between gender equality and enhanced environmental outcomes. Closing the gaps between men and women when it comes to accessing resources and participating in decision-making processes could help spur economic growth while achieving Sustainable Development Goals.

At the same time, few environmental policies and projects take gender-related issues into account. Women are still not systematically and comprehensively engaged in natural resource management and decision-making.

WRI’s Gender Initiative aims to make gender equity a standard practice in environment and sustainable development initiatives. We work with programs and centers across the institute to ensure our environmental projects are responsive to gender and social issues.

We work with WRI Ross Center for Sustainable Cities to ensure that public transport systems take women’s safety concerns into account. We work to spread fundamental democratic principles throughout the world by integrating gender throughout the work of our Governance Center of Excellence. And we strive to promote gender equality throughout the development community by ensuring gender balance in public events. We have developed a set of recommendations for our staff and others to inspire and guide this change.

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Advancing women’s land right rights is critical to achieving gender equality. But WRI’s new working paper A Fair Share for Women: Toward More Equitable Land Compensation and Resettlement in Tanzania and Mozambique finds that, despite constitutional commitments to gender equality, governments in Tanzania and Mozambique are not protecting women from harmful commercial land deals. State officials’ failure to close gaps in land laws and overhaul ineffective regulations shortchanges women who receive little to no payment for their families’ land, while attempts to amplify women’s voices in community land decision-making are also falling short.

In a study of corporate land deals with rural communities in Tanzania and Mozambique, women consistently received less in return for their land, and had a harder time once they were relocated—despite national commitments to gender equality.

From International Women's Day to Women's History Month, March is a good time to focus on gender equality -- and the need to support women who are the most vulnerable to climate impacts. Tackling this challenge is essential to creating a global sustainable economy.

UN Women will host the 62nd Commission on the Status of Women in New York City from March 12-23, 2018. Thousands of government officials, civil society representatives, and technical experts will come together to discuss this year’s theme: challenges and opportunities in achieving gender equality and the empowerment of rural women and girls. WRI will host the follow events.

Knowledge is power for the women of Sungai Berbari, Indonesia. With forest data from the Global Forest Watch platform and advocacy training from Women Research Institute, they are influencing where and how nearby agricultural companies operate.

As they struggle to care for farms and families in a changing climate, women in the developing world face unfair burdens related to their gender. A shift in approaches could increase agricultural yields and advance equal rights.